Twitter's best tweets of 2011

Twitter has compiled its list of the best tweets of the year, from the first
unwitting report of the attack on Osama bin Laden to the uncensored
lipreading of football stars during matches.

Egyptian Wael Ghonim, center, a 30-year-old Google Inc. marketing manager who was a key organizer of the online campaign that sparked the first protest on Jan. 25, talks to the crowd in Tahrir Square, in Cairo, EgyptPhoto: AP

A homeless man called Daniel Morales living in New York was reunited with his daughter after years apart after his first, single tweet.

In February, Puerto Rican-born Morales was given the use of a prepaid mobile phone through an organisation called Underheard, which helps give a voice to homeless people.

Morales used the phone to set up a Twitter account and tweet: "my daughter her name is sarah m rivera." He also posted a photograph of his daughter aged 16 and, later, his number. Sarah, now 27, called him the next day.

During this year’s standoff between the basketball players in the US’s NBA and the sport’s authorities over money, Kevin Durant, 23, a forward with the Oklahoma City Thunder, was just itching for a bit of competitive sport. So, in October, he asked if anyone fancied a game of non-contact American Football. A university student in the city responded and, a few hours later, the basketballer, one of the superstars of the NBA, turned up to play.

This August riots across London sparked a demonstrative response from citizens angry at the damage to their communities in the south of the city. They rallied on Facebook and Twitter to organize a mass clean-up effort in the affected areas, such as Clapham, with one Twitter account, @riotcleanup, getting over 70,000 followers. The attitude was typified by Andrew Hayden-Smith, an actor, who tweeted a picture, saying: "Brooms up London!"

This is effectively a collective tweet as, on March 11 a devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, with many people turning to whatever social media they had to hand to contact friends and family.

Twitter proved vital for many in passing on emergency information and disseminating data on precise situations. Mr Dorsey said: “To me it's about being able to reach out instantly and know that others are with you and others are experiencing the same thing and others are out there supporting and that's what you saw in Japan.”

In protest at the poor quality of subtitles for the commentary of televised football matches, Julia Probst, a lip reader, tweeted an alternative version in November by publishing what the players and coaches said during games.

Her work has both raised awareness of deaf people and offered an insight into the drama of the sport which is normally only available to those playing.

On August 17, perhaps more in hope than expectation, Peter Shankman, a financial consultant, was en route back to New York when he got hungry and tweeted his wish to be met with a steak from his favourite restaurant, Mortons.

To his stomach's delight, and his considerable surprise, he was met on arrival at Newark with a tuxedo-clad waiter holding a steak, as well as some shrimp, potatoes and bread, all ready for him to tuck in.